Sunday 14 June 2020 - coralcoastchurch.org › bulletins › Bulletin_2020.06.14.pdf · 6/14/2020  · Sunday 14 June 2020 ‘virtual church’ Brian Robertson 2 Timothy 1:1-7 “A

Sunday 14 June 2020 ‘virtual church’

Brian Robertson 2 Timothy 1:1-7 “A Sincere Faith”

Sunday 21 June 2020 ‘virtual church’

Brian Robertson 2 Timothy 1:8-12 “A Holy Calling”

WELCOME to the

CORAL COAST CHRISTIAN CHURCH If you are visiting with us today, we welcome you and invite you to sign our Visitor's Book.

The restrooms are on the southern side of the hall, with entry off the veranda. There are baby-change facilities in the Toilet for People with Disabilities.

All Activities in Abeyance In accordance with the Federal Government’s decision to close all places of worship, our church worship services and ministry activities are in abeyance until further notice. While no one in our church has contracted COVID-19 yet, we are complying with the ruling that is designed to limit numbers of people gathering together. We are presenting a ‘virtual church’ service each Sunday so that you can watch and listen to our worship service on your home computer or electronic device. Pastor Brian emails the link for each Sunday’s worship service toward the end of each week. Pastor Brian is still producing a weekly Bulletin, and there is daily email contact with devotional thoughts, prayer points, and any requests for practical support. If you have any needs – practical or spiritual – please advise Pastor Brian on 0407 547036 (or email [email protected]) or Pastor Lisa on 0414 983353 (or email [email protected]).

Non-Stop Public Reading of the Bible At 6.00am yesterday (Saturday 13 June), the non-stop public reading of the Bible began in Buss Park in Bundaberg. This reading will go through until about midday on Tuesday 16 June. The Bible is being read out loud continuously from cover-to-cover, so that God’s powerful, transforming Word will be declared in the ‘airways’ at the centre of our district. A large print translation of the Bible (in a modern version) is being utilised to ensure that everyone reads from the same translation. Although Pastor Brian was still officially on long-service leave, he was the ‘watchman’ who oversaw the first three-hour segment from 6.00am to 9.00am yesterday, along with three others from our church. If you would like to participate in this Bible reading ‘marathon’, and if you haven’t yet spoken with the organisers and been allocated a three-hour timeslot, please contact Beth Scott on 0419 667530 or email at [email protected].

Stewards’ Meeting The next Stewards’ Meeting will be held on Monday 15 June, beginning at 7.00pm. If there are some matters you would like the stewards to discuss, please speak with Jill Jennings, our Church Secretary, on 0411 800256.

Annual Meeting of Religious Instruction Cooperative Committee The Bundaberg Religious Instruction Cooperative Committee, which oversees our area’s primary-school religious instruction program, will hold its Annual General Meeting (followed by the regular bi-monthly meeting) on Tuesday 16 June, beginning at 3.30pm in the Novakoski Centre (70 Woongarra Street, Bundaberg). Pastor Brian usually attends the meetings as the Bundaberg Ministers Association representative, but as a member of the RI Cooperative, our church is also entitled to have a representative. If you could take on this role, talk to Brian.

Bundaberg Branch Meeting of Cherish Life Queensland The Bundaberg Branch of Cherish Life Queensland will hold its bi-monthly meeting at 1.30pm on Monday 22 June at the Novakoski Centre (70 Woongarra Street, Bundaberg). CLQ is non-denominational and non-party-political, committed to defending the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. Pastor Brian is a member and serves as Branch president. If you are interested in supporting pro-life values in our community, go along to the meeting.

Birthdays This Week Monday 15 June – Katie Duffin Tuesday 16 June – Margo Cook Friday 19 June – Michael Drewett Saturday 20 June – Munya Clarence Bere

Church Account Details If you would like to have your weekly or fortnightly offering directly debited from your bank account into the church account, you will need the following information –

BSB Number 704 913 Account Number 400040010 Account Name Coral Coast Christian Church

Please reference you giving as “Offering” or “Tithe”. Including your surname is optional.

Still Accepting Cash Offerings With our church not holding ‘live’ worship services, those people in the church family who give their offerings in cash or cheque are not able to make those donations. A number of people have switched to direct deposits, but some people may not be able to (or may not want to) set up a direct deposit arrangement. On the outside of the Church Office is a solid metal moneybox, bolted through the block wall at the front of the Office. So, if you would like to make your offering to our church by means of cash or cheque (made payable to “Coral Coast Christian Church”), put you donation in an envelope, seal the envelope, and put it in the moneybox outside the Office. The contents of the box are emptied at least once a week. [Obviously, if the Office is open when you come to make your donation, you can hand the envelope in to whoever is there.]

Subscribe to Creation Magazine Creation magazine has been published since 1978, and today it is a quarterly 56-page full-colour glossy magazine. Creation honours the Creator God, refutes evolution, and gives its readers answers to defend our faith and uphold the true history of the world as described in God’s Word. With no paid advertising, every page of Creation magazine is chock-full of powerful ‘ammunition’ to intelligently discuss nature, history, science, the Bible, and related subjects. It is an essential tool for anyone wanting to ‘immunise’ their family against the anti-biblical worldviews bombarding us from all sides. If you would like to subscribe to Creation, contact Creation Ministries International, PO Box 4545, Eight Mile Plains, Qld, 4113. The cost is $32.00 for one year (four issues), $60.00 for two years (eight issues), or $85.00 for three years (twelve issues). A digital version can also be purchased and downloaded on up to five devices at one time. For more information or to subscribe, go the CMI website at www.creation.com or telephone 33409888.

Mission News Scripture Union Queensland Bring Hope Appeal Scripture Union Queensland is seeking to raise $289,000.00 by 30 June 2020 in its Bring Hope Appeal to ensure the continuance of its existing school chaplaincy program and to train and equip new chaplains for additional schools. SUQ has experienced a decline in support because many of the fundraising events that would normally bring in funds have been cancelled because of the coronavirus restrictions. SUQ has applied for the JobKeeper support, but still needs a significant boost through this Bring Hope Appeal. To donate to the SUQ Bring Hope Appeal, post your gift to Scripture Union Queensland, PO Box 1167, Eagle Farm, Qld, 4009, or go to the website www.suqld.org.au/bringhope, or telephone 1300 478753. Every gift is income-tax deductible.

School Chaplaincy Positions Available Scripture Union Queensland is inviting applications from suitably qualified persons for four part-time school chaplaincy positions at Moore Park Beach State School (1 day per week), Walkervale State School (2.5 days per fortnight), Alloway State School (1.5 days per week), and Agnes Water State School (2 days per fortnight). Applicants need to demonstrate their suitability to provide support and care to young people. Training and experience in youth work, pastoral care, and / or teaching is desirable. Minimum qualifications are required. If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in applying for one of these positions, speak with Lisa Hardie (Field Development Manager) on 0414 983353 or email [email protected] for further information. Alternatively, apply directly at http://apply.chappy.org.au.

A Great Opportunity to Support Baptist World Aid Australia At this time of year, a number of development and aid agencies receive a ‘bonus’ from the Federal Government in the form of matching grants. The Federal Government, through its international aid programs, gives some of its grant money to credible agencies to support them in their development and relief projects. Once again, Baptist World Aid Australia is a recipient of this arrangement. BWAA has advised that donations to their general fund (which are income-tax deductible) are attracting a ten-to-one subsidy from the Federal Government. For every $1.00 given by individuals before 30 June, the Federal Government will match it with $10.00. This means that it is timely to make a gift to BWAA now because each gift will have an enormous impact! Go to the website, www.baptistworldaid.org.au/matching-grant, and follow the prompts. Alternatively you can send a gift to BWAA, Locked Bag 2200, North Ryde, NSW, 1670, or telephone 1300 789991. Designate your gift for the ‘Matching Grant Fund 2020’.

Shop to Stop Leprosy Catalogue The Leprosy Mission Australia has released its Shop to Stop Leprosy to enable supporters to purchase items – such as recipe books, tea towels, aprons, tea cups, mugs, plates, placemats, board games, torches, wallets, CDs and DVDs, fashion accessories, soaps and toiletries, cosmetics, children’s books and puzzles, stationery and cards, and books. The profits from the purchase of these items support the work of TLM. If you would like to browse the catalogue, go to the website www.leprosymission.org.au (or telephone 1800 537767 to request a paper copy of the catalogue). The catalogue also lists a number of projects to which supporters can make a donation as a “Gift of Love”. These projects include –

providing pairs of chickens (eggs improve the diet of leprosy patients) ($10.00 per pair)

supplying specially adapted shoes to protect injured feet ($15.00 per pair)

supplying school uniforms so that leprosy-affected children can attend school and fit in with other students ($25.00 per uniform)

providing scholarships to enable children affected by leprosy to attend school regularly ($45.00 per child)

supplying goats to leprosy-affected people ($50.00 each)

assisting young people affected by leprosy with vocational training ($100.00 per person) If you would like to make an income-tax deductible donation to one or more of these projects, send your gift to The Leprosy Mission Australia, PO Box 293, Box Hill, Vic, 3128, or telephone 1800 537767.

Coronavirus Topics

Religious Persecution Skyrocketing During Coronavirus Pandemic The coronavirus pandemic has escalated religious persecution against Christians and other minority groups and has become a catalyst for faith-based discrimination around the world. Days before COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan in China, David Curry – the CEO of Open Doors, a Christian organisation supporting persecuted Christians – was in that region on a fact-finding mission. He witnessed firsthand the outsized efforts of the Chinese regime to curtail the spread of religious ideas that they deem threatening. Mass surveillance placed a target on the backs of minorities, including Christians and Uighur Muslims, by reducing their access to education and employment as punishment for their perceived disloyalty. These findings in China are consistent with those in North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan, where Christians are consistently treated as second-class citizens, traitors, and infidels. Now, as the coronavirus ravages the health and livelihoods of all people, Christians and other religious minorities in Asia are facing a new punishment: discriminatory distribution of emergency relief and medical care. Asia isn’t the only offending region. In Russia, a state news channel falsely reported that an evangelical church in St Petersburg had continued to meet after the lockdown, causing mass infections in the area. “The report led to an attempted arson attack on another church.” In another hostile country where Open Doors operates covertly due to religious violence, Christian nurses – who are considered as more expendable – are being assigned to the riskiest coronavirus cases. “We are dispensable,” one Christian relief worker told Open Doors. “It is very painful to see people neglected and ignored because of their faith.” She goes on to explain how she is classified as one of “the filthy people” because she wears a cross necklace. Health care employees considered loyal to the state-sponsored religion, on the other hand, are assigned the less contagious patients in her facility. In Somalia, an Islamic extremist group al-Shabaab said, as reported by the BBC, that COVID-19 spreads “by the crusader forces who have invaded the country and the disbelieving countries that support them”. Their message – that religious minorities are somehow responsible for the outbreak – incites violence toward anyone suspected of disbelief in Islam, in Somalia and surrounding countries. Then, in northern Uganda, Muslims have blamed Christians for coronavirus, suggesting that Chinese believers have been burning the Qur’an and, as a result, Allah is punishing people with sickness. “They have threatened to put to death any person who is identified to be positive with the coronavirus,” Open Doors added. A spokesperson for Open Doors, said, “It’s distressing to hear of the blaming of Christians for the COVID-19 pandemic in places where the Body of Christ is already under immense pressure. We call on governments to do all in their power to counter the spreading of misinformation and to make sure that all minorities are adequately protected against violence, especially in remote areas.” Open Doors reported that economic discrimination is the second-most prevalent form of persecution toward men in the Middle East and North Africa. As a result, many Christians in the region are forced into low-paid jobs due to religious discrimination. Additionally, those who convert to Christianity from other faiths are often disowned by their families, leaving them without a financial safety net or support system. Christians in India are under similar pressure. Many were day labourers before the 21-day lockdown, but now they are struggling to even feed their families. The coronavirus crisis has caused significant job loss, leaving many of them without income. The result is a large number of people in urgent need of food, shelter, and medical care. There’s no gentle way to say this – religious persecution is multiplying exponentially in the wake of coronavirus. Christians should use this period of quarantine to remember the more than 200 million Christians worldwide who worship in isolation – before and after the coronavirus. To listen to their cries and learn from their stories. And most of all, to resolve support and advocacy for the people who are doubly vulnerable in times of crisis and scarcity.

Social Issues in the News “First Legally Non-Binary Person Changes Birth Certificate Back To ‘Male’ in Major Blow to Trans Narrative” This article was written by Elizabeth Johnston, who blogs under the pseudonym ‘Activist Mommy’. It was published online on 2 January 2020.

The transgender movement in America has just lost one of its biggest poster boys. James Shupe first gained national recognition as ‘Jamie’, the country’s first legally “non-binary” citizen, when he successfully petitioned to change the gender on his birth certificate to “X”. Now, Shupe has renounced his transgender and non-binary identities, claiming it was all a sham and refusing to allow the LGBT movement to use him to further their “toxic agenda”. On Twitter, where he uses the handle “James Shupe (formerly Jamie Shupe)”, Shupe’s bio reads, “I reclaimed my male birth sex after becoming America’s first legally non-binary person because transgenderism is a fraud and gender identity is legal fiction.” Wow!! Clearly, he has seen the light! According to PJ Media, Shupe successfully petitioned the court originally responsible for his non-binary designation to order that the sex on his birth certificate be restored to “male” in late December [2019], declaring that the whole thing had been a “psychologically harmful legal fiction”. “The charade of not being male, the legal fiction, it’s over,” Shupe told PJ Media on Tuesday [31 December]. “The lies behind my fictitious sex changes, something I shamefully participated in, first to female, and then to non-binary, have been forever exposed. A truthful accounting of events has replaced the deceit that allowed me to become America’s first legally non-binary person.” “The legal record has now been corrected and LGBT advocates are no longer able to use my historic non-binary court order to advance their toxic agenda,” he added. “I am and have always been male. That is my biological truth, the only thing capable of grounding me to reality.” Shupe pointed to the case of Jones David Hollister, a woman who identifies as non-binary and is currently following in ‘Jamie’ Shupe’s footsteps, working to change her legal designation to non-binary, and citing Shupe’s case to do so. “I hope that Hollister and all the others are denied the right to change their sex to non-binary because it’s fraud and legal fiction based on pseudoscience,” Shupe said. “I was indoctrinated to believe that I had this thing called a gender identity and that suppressing it was causing my mental health problems. It was all a lie.” While this is a massive blow to the transgender facade and a huge victory for the side of truth, it took years of mental anguish and excruciating pain from experimental “transition” procedures for Shupe to arrive at this point. “I ended up in the psych ward three times because of hormones. I had blood clots in my eyes because my estrogen levels were 2,585 instead of 200, low bone density, problems controlling my bladder, and emotional instability,” he explained to PJ Media. “Blood tests indicated I was dropping into kidney disease territory (EFGR below 60) for about eighteen months, I had chronic dermatology issues and skin reactions to estrogen patches, I passed out on the kitchen floor from Spironolactone.” “The gender transitions were supposed to fix my mental health problems, but I kept getting worse instead. The [high-powered marijuana prescribed in Colorado] made me psychotic. I started hearing booming noises and having visions of being some Indian woman,” he continued. “I started believing I was some kind of chosen one who was picked to restore the third gender to North America, that’s what I thought the visions were telling me.” In 2016, Shupe first began to wrestle with the concept of “gender identity” and arrived at the “non-binary” option. “I was assigned male at birth due to biology,” he told Oregon Live. “I’m

Elizabeth Johnston

stuck with that for life. My gender identity is definitely feminine. My gender identity has never been male, but I feel like I have to own up to my male biology. Being non-binary allows me to do that. I’m a mixture of both. I consider myself as a third sex.” In 2017, ABC reported that Shupe’s “three years of living like a woman were nearly as painful as those spent as a man”. While living as a “transgender woman,” Shupe felt pressured “to maintain a hyper-feminine appearance 24-7,” or else he would find himself “getting called sir”. Later that year, however, Shupe expressed concern about “the future of transgender children”, calling for “societal change”, not “surgical procedures,” “cross-sex hormones,” or sterilisation. Once he expressed support for a “bathroom bill” [a law safeguarding the concept of separate bathrooms], he got his first dose of “cancel culture” with prestigious gay rights legal group Lambda Legal dropping him as a client. In a very short time, Shupe went from supporting transgenders in the military to defending President Trump’s transgender military ban, placing him squarely on the leftist media’s blacklist. “Not a single Oregon media outlet has been willing to talk to me, let alone report that I’ve reclaimed my birth sex and have denounced gender ideology,” he told PJ Media. “They dropped me after I supported Trump’s ban on gender dysphoria in the military. That got me cancelled.” This year [2019], his defection from transgenderism culminated in walking into his local DMV and requesting that he be issued a driver’s license that reflects his biological sex. “In January 2019, I walked into the DMV and confronted a clerk with my US passport, telling her ‘Look, I’m a male, I’m reclaiming my male birth sex, and I want a driver’s license with ‘male’ instead of ‘female’,” he said. The change, however, only applied to documents and records in Florida, where Shupe still has an ongoing case to change his name back to “James Clifford Shupe”, rather than “Jamie Shupe”. In the [northern] spring of 2019, Shupe ran into a surprising roadblock in having his records updated to reflect his actual gender. “Social Security refused to accept a doctor’s letter stating I was biologically male. They forced me to use their template, claiming I had undergone a gender transition to male,” he recalled. His success in Florida, Shupe noted, “wouldn’t override the Oregon court order that made my sex non-binary and was getting used by the LGBT advocates to advance other cases, so we had to go back to Oregon.” “Despite six years of hormonal treatments, my sex was immutable, and I remained the same biological male I was at the time of my birth. In hindsight, my sex change to non-binary was a psychologically harmful legal fiction, and I desire to reclaim my male birth sex,” Shupe said in his petition to the Multnomah County Court. “Despite my documented history of severe mental illness, my birth certificate has been changed twice previously. … Since receiving the 2016 non-binary court judgment in this case, I have been correctly diagnosed with a ‘sexual paraphilia’ by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the root cause of previous confusion about my sexual identity.” Shupe then shared the horrors of his experiences with Veterans Affairs, who apparently handle transgenderism cases about as efficiently and effectively as they handle all their other cases – which is to say, poorly. “I then began confronting the VA about rubber-stamping me with gender dysphoria when in fact I had sexual paraphilias, a transvestic disorder with autogynephilia and masochism. The psychologist at the VA who had diagnosed me with gender dysphoria then dumped me as a patient when I asked for the diagnosis to be changed. The VA finally gave me the paraphilia diagnosis in April 2019, the endocrinologist did it,” Shupe said. “The VA then outsourced me to the civilian sector to a therapist unqualified to treat me, the only one willing to take me as a patient.”

“Why didn’t they force me to go to mental health for an evaluation about why I felt the sex change was a failure instead of giving me yet another one?” Shupe said of his so-called care team. “I stayed doped up to cope with my life as a fake woman.” “It’s an incredibly painful thing to walk back a landmark court decision that made you internationally famous and admit the whole thing was based on lies and deceit,” Shupe said. While he may no longer be the transgender hero the LGBT movement wanted him to be, he is a hero alongside every other “desister” who walks away from transgender brainwashing. More and more people are waking up to the fact that being “transgender” is a myth. The reality may be painful, but the truth is worth fighting for. Praise God for Shupe and the growing number of ex-transgenders who are speaking the truth to power! We need their voices now more than ever!

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World News – United States of America

Ohio Woman Recovered from Coma In a culture increasingly inclined to give up on life, an Ohio woman has her loyal family to thank for saving hers. Kertisha Brabson, in her early 30s, had begun acting funny, reaching out for things that weren’t there, dancing when there wasn’t music, and speaking in gibberish. Eventually, Kertisha had a seizure that landed her in a coma. Doctors eventually diagnosed Kertisha with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a condition in which the brain cells are under attack from their own body’s immune system. That’s when doctors advised Kertisha’s mother, Kertease Williams, that it was time to ‘pull the plug’ on her own daughter. Instead, this mother chose to follow her instincts and fight for the life of her daughter. “I don’t have a doctor’s background,” Kertease said. “I’ve never been to school, but when it’s your child, you do everything in your power to bring your daughter back.” A new team of doctors continued to “aggressively” treat the condition. Miraculously, after seven gruelling months in a coma, Kertisha woke up. “We just jumped up and down and screamed and nobody slept that morning,” Kertease said. But to Kertisha, it was like waking up after a nap. She had no clue how much time had passed. Amazingly, she was well enough to spend the Christmas holidays with her family, including her own two young children.

2,411 Aborted Babies Properly Buried The remains of 2,411 aborted babies were laid to rest on 12 February 2020 at an Indiana cemetery after being discovered by the family of abortionist Ulrich ‘George’ Klopfer, who died in September 2019. Dr Klopfer had secretly kept the aborted babies in storage in his home garage, and their tiny bodies were not found until after the doctor’s death. Inside the doctor’s Chicago-area garage were seventy-one boxes filled with 2,246 foetuses that had not been properly disposed, and another 165 foetuses were later found in the boot of one of Dr Klopfer’s vehicles. “We have identified a burial site with the purpose to memorialise these 2,411 unborn, keeping them together in rest, each of them connected by their common fate,” said Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill at the graveside service at Southlawn Cemetery in South Bend. “Each of

these 2,411 was a life that was terminated, and each deserves to be secure in a final resting place, with dignity and respect, as should be afforded all human beings. May each of the 2,411 buried here, rest in peace,” Mr Hill added. At the service, which was streamed live by pro-life groups including the Susan B Anthony List, clergy offered remarks decrying the evil of abortion and thanking God that the remains had a final resting place. Rev Mario Sims, senior pastor of Doulos Chapel in South Bend, urged Christians to continue to speak on behalf of the unborn. “We are witnesses today of an American Holocaust. Two thousand four hundred-and-eleven children’s lives that were given by God but snuffed out by the will of man. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, must stand strong. We must speak out. We must not be silenced. We must not be shouted down. We must not be told that we are politically incorrect,” he said. “These children’s lives were taken after God gave them life. This must stop.”

President Trump Urged Americans to “Grow in Personal Relationship with God” Prior to the weekly coronavirus task force briefing on Good Friday, President Trump gave an Easter message in which he urged Americans to “focus on prayer, reflection, and growing in our personal relationship with God” during “this sacred time” as most churches held services online. “On this Good Friday, Christians from all around the world remember the suffering and death upon the cross of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,” President Trump said at the briefing at the White House. “At Easter Sunday, we will celebrate His glorious resurrection.” He acknowledged that people would not be able to “gather together with one another as we normally would on Easter”, but he added they can “use this sacred time to focus on prayer, reflection, and growing in our personal relationship with God. So important.” He continued, “I ask all Americans to pray that God will heal our nation; to bring comfort to those who are grieving; to give strength to the doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers; to restore health to the sick; and to renew the hope in every person who is suffering. Our nation will come through like never before.” Then President Trump quoted the prophet Isaiah, “Darkness covers the Earth … but the Lord rises upon you, and His glory appears over you … For the Lord will be your everlasting light.” As the USA “battles the invisible enemy,” he continued, “we reaffirm that Americans believe in the power of prayer. We give thanks for the majesty of creation and for the gift of eternal life. And we place our trust in the hands of Almighty God.” He then asked Bishop Harry Jackson to lead in prayer.

Planned Parenthood Using the Coronavirus to Advance Abortion Decades ago, the pro-choice movement’s stated goal was to make abortion “safe, legal, and rare”. But that was then. Now, the abortion industry has dropped “rare” from that slogan, claiming it is “stigmatising”. According to abortion advocates, an abortion should be celebrated. This belief has led to efforts like the “Shout Your Abortion” campaign, where women tell stories of their positive experience with abortion. Planned Parenthood also recently released a Colouring and Activity booklet for supporters to colour in pictures of IUDs and contraceptives and search for words like “abortion” and “choice”. Campaigns like this are an attempt to normalise abortion and treat it as just another medical procedure. And if this is the case, why should it be rare? Then came the COVID-19 pandemic! In a world ravaged by the coronavirus, the abortion industry had to adapt. Rather than continuing to treat abortion like any other medical procedure – an already dubious assertion – abortion advocates are now working to convince the American people that abortion is an essential medical procedure. The abortion industry would have us believe that the outbreak of a deadly disease transformed abortion from an elective procedure to essential healthcare. And abortion advocates have been jumping on board. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer took it even a step further, calling abortion “life sustaining”. Never mind the fact that abortion ends the life of a defenceless child.

Why the sudden change in messaging? Well, you see, in response to the coronavirus, many States put a temporary halt on elective procedures … sometimes including abortions. And a halt on abortions spells trouble for the abortion industry’s bottom line. So the abortion industry has gone to court to defend its business, suing States that have suspended elective procedures. Its defence? Abortion is always essential. In doing so, the abortion industry has once again elevated its own interests over human life. Even as many healthcare providers are putting themselves in harm’s way to serve those in need, Planned Parenthood is consuming critical medical supplies, not to save life, but to end it. Its priorities are clear: Profit trumps a pandemic. Thankfully, not everyone is satisfied with the abortion industry’s logic. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) had filed an amicus brief with the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit supporting Oklahoma’s efforts to temporarily halt most abortions – which are rarely, if ever, essential. The ADF represented a coalition of pro-life faith leaders who were asking the court to treat abortion the same as all other elective procedures. The ADF had also filed an amicus brief with the 6th Circuit supporting Tennessee’s efforts, which are similar to Oklahoma’s. The USA had taken drastic measures to flatten the curve and weather this pandemic with as little suffering as possible. The actions to slow the spread of the virus showed that the USA recognised the incredible value of life and was willing to make sacrifices to protect the vulnerable. It is time for Planned Parenthood (and the whole abortion industry) to finally realise this value and stop targeting the most vulnerable.

Episcopal Priest in USA Declared Again That It’s OK to Kill Babies An Episcopal priest who leads one of the largest pro-abortion groups in the USA slammed pro-lifers for protesting peacefully outside abortion facilities during the coronavirus crisis. The Very Rev Dr Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, an Episcopal priest and president of the National Abortion Federation, claimed pro-lifers were endangering lives by standing on the sidewalk outside abortion facilities. “It is absolutely shameful that anti-abortion groups and individuals are ignoring public health guidance and putting patients, clinic staff, and law enforcement at risk,” Rev Ragsdale said in a statement. Rev Ragsdale urged local law enforcement and politicians to keep using coronavirus restrictions to punish pro-life sidewalk counsellors. “Law enforcement must enforce current orders to restrict gatherings and travel,” she said. “And leaders in the anti-abortion movement should stop instructing their followers to blatantly ignore public health guidance and condemn protests and gatherings outside abortion clinics.” In fact, abortion facilities really were the ones putting people at risk by remaining open during the crisis. Not only were they still aborting unborn babies in elective abortions, they also were risking the health of their staff, volunteers, and patients. And even though abortions are not essential, abortion facilities continued to use up personal protective equipment and other medical supplies that hospitals desperately needed for legitimate life-saving medical care. As long as abortion facilities remain open, some pro-life advocates said they will not stop standing outside to offer life-saving information and support to mothers and babies. Pro-life leaders were urging pro-life sidewalk counsellors to follow health and safety restrictions by going individually or in small groups, staying at least a couple of metres apart, and respecting local authorities’ orders. Some had already been cited and arrested for doing so in California, Michigan, and North Carolina. One pro-life man in Detroit in Michigan said he was standing alone outside an abortion facility when fifteen police officers showed up and cited him for violating a local coronavirus mandate. The city later dropped the charge after he filed a lawsuit.

BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse Ministered after Severe Tornadoes The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) stepped up to serve in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina – alongside Samaritan’s Purse – after a massive

storm system swept across the Southeast United States over the Easter weekend. According to the BGEA, the violent storms spawned dozens of tornadoes that killed at least thirty-four people and left many more injured, leaving hundreds of homes ripped to shreds and at least 860,000 people without electricity. Dozens of people were hospitalised. The Chattanooga, Tennessee, area was particularly hard hit. In all, ten States were under flash flood, tornado, and thunderstorm warnings and watches. Eleven of the deaths were in Mississippi. “This is not how anyone wants to spend Easter,” Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said in a statement. “As many communities are asked to stay at home, my heart breaks for families that now have nowhere to go – losing loved ones in a matter of minutes,” said Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. “Please join me in praying for God’s peace and comfort to cover them.”

COVID-19 May Be Precursor to Revival While interceding for revival as part of the National Day of Prayer (NDOP) on the first Thursday in May, some Christian leaders said the USA may be on cusp of awakening, the precursor being the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the annual event is usually held in Washington DC, at the US Capitol, this year, the National Day of Prayer was observed virtually via livestream due to the ongoing public health crisis resulting from the coronavirus. This year’s theme verse was Habakkuk 2:14, which reads: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Renowned worship leader and singer Michael W Smith punctuated the prayer sessions with songs of praise streamed from his home studio. Hosted by NDOP chair Kathy Branzell and Will Graham, the grandson of the late evangelist Billy Graham, prayers rose for the USA to turn to God, and that the Earth would be filled with the knowledge of God’s glory. Offering prayers for repentance, William Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University, noted that the prophet Habakkuk describes how the plagues and pestilence occurring were unto a divine end. “The plague, the calamity, the disaster that was coming to Judah would serve the purposes of God in filling the Earth with the knowledge of His glory,” Mr Wilson said, explaining that Judah was scattered and they would take the Word of God to pagan peoples and the world would hear about the glory of God through them. The disaster was used as a forerunner for God’s glory.

Wisdom for Life “I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.” Ronald Reagan

“To compel a man to subsidise with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” Thomas Jefferson

Prayer Points

Thank God for President Donald Trump’s Easter message to the people of the USA. We know that Mr Trump sometimes says some ‘outlandish’ things, but his Easter message was a clear declaration of the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection and a call for Americans to grow in relationship with Christ.

Pray for abortion agencies in the USA – such as Planned Parenthood – to experience huge down-turns in ‘business’ during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pray that US women with unplanned pregnancies will choose other options during this time, and that the abortion providers will be forced out of business as a consequence.

Pray for God’s Spirit to convict Rev Dr Katherine Hancock Ragsdale of the sinfulness of her role as president of the National Abortion Federation in the USA (and also of her same-sex ‘marriage’). Pray that she will come to understand the truth, repent of her sin, and truly embrace the Lordship of Jesus Christ in her life.

Keep praying for God’s hand on the outworking of the democratic process in the USA as the Democratic Party proceeds to endorse former Vice-President Joe Biden as their presidential candidate to stand against President Donald Trump in November’s election. Sadly, Mr Biden is on record as a supporter of abortion-on-demand and government funding for abortion services. And he is also facing an accusation of sexual assault against a woman who was in his staff when he was a Senator in the early 1990s.

Pray that China will backdown on its plans to further restrict political and religious freedoms in Hong Kong, in a clear rejection of the treaty agreement that was accepted when the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule. Pray too that the Chinese communist government will back away from its rhetoric about “aggressively seizing” Taiwan, for such an action would result in a major war in the western Pacific.

Thank God that the World Health Authority has decided to hold an international inquiry into the way in which the COVID-19 pandemic was handled around the world. Pray though for this inquiry to be genuinely independent – and not ‘whitewashed’ by China – so that the truth about the origins and spread of coronavirus can be established.

Keep praying for God’s comfort for the families of those Australians who have lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic. Pray that they will seek God in the midst of their grieving.

Pray too for those who are suffering the loss of income because of the shutdown of much of everyday life in our country. Pray that this ‘hit’ to our country’s economic wellbeing will cause many people to seek spiritual answers to life’s issues.

Pray for God’s provision for Bible Society Australia as they continue the work of translating God’s Word into the languages of Australia’s indigenous peoples.

Ask God to bless and strengthen the work of Barnabas Fund as it supports persecuted Christians around the world. Pray that the food packages, medical supplies, clothing, children’s school fees, and legal support will all combine to demonstrate the reality of God’s goodness and will encourage hard-pressed believers to remain strong.

Thank God that Baptist World Aid Australia is in receipt of a ten-to-one matching grant from Australia Aid for donations made before 30 June. Pray that a large amount will come in from Baptist Christians across the country, so as to maximise the total of funds that will be supplied by the Federal Government.

Be in prayer too for Scripture Union Queensland to know God’s provision as they seek to raise an additional $289,000 by 30 June to ensure the continuance of their school chaplaincy programs.

Uphold Karen Hopping in prayer as she continues a slow process of recovering from a range of health problems contracted during her time in the Solomon Islands. Pray that she will find suitable stress-free work, and pray that young Karen will continue to grow in her faith.

Pray that the public reading of the Bible in Buss Park – which began at 6.00am on Saturday 13 June and will go through until about midday on Tuesday 16 June – will be a powerful testimony to the truth and the relevance of God’s Word for life in our modern world.